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This report explores the feasibility and potential cost of enabling EBT systems to differentiate between program-eligible and ineligible items. It considers the cost of upgrading systems in stores that now have scanners and the cost of installing new systems in stores without scanners. The report also examines the potential for the purchase of ineligible items even with the introduction of new technological controls.

This pamphlet provides estimates for Food Stamp Program participation rates by States. It will be the first widely-released document showing the percentage of eligible people, by State, who actually participate in the program. Because the data are from January 1994, prior to the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, they provide baseline data on participation rates prior to the enactment of welfare reform.

Describe how participants redeem their food stamp (FS) benefits (including the number and types of stores frequented by typical clients, the timing and amount of purchases during the month, the frequency of benefit exhaustion, and the amount of benefits carried over into following months). And, identify redemption patterns across groups and analyze differences in redemption and shopping patterns if such exist (e.g., differences between participants with earnings and those without; differences between families with and without children; differences between geographic regions).

This report is the first to present information on a little-known segment of the Food Stamp population that has been profoundly affected by welfare reform—unemployed, childless, 18-50 year old able-bodied adults. As government agencies find themselves having to learn quickly about those affected by the new rules of public assistance , the need to gather timely and accurate information has never been greater.

The report presents the results of a survey conducted with every State during November and December 1997 to gather detailed information on State options taken in six main areas, with particular focus on time limits and work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) and on food stamp sanctions.

This report provides a comprehensive picture of individuals’ patterns of participation in the Food Stamp Program (FSP) during the early 1990s, a period of rapid caseload growth. Based on data from the 1990 and 1991 SIPP panels (national longitudinal surveys covering the period from late 1989 to early 1994), the research addresses questions about why individuals enter and leave the FSP, how long participants stay on the program, whether individuals return at a later time and what factors distinguish those who are more dependent on the program from those who are less dependent. The research also replicated an earlier study based on SIPP data from the mid-1980s to determine how changing dynamics contributed to rising FSP caseloads.

The USDA budget for fiscal year 1997 (FY) included $4.2 million to support Food Stamp Program (FSP) retailer authorization site visits to help prevent ineligible retailers from participating in the FSP. This money is being used primarily to fund store visits by contracted vendors, who will provide the information gathered to the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) field office staff making the eligibility decisions. To prepare for the receipt of this funding, FNS conducted the Food Retailer Pre-Authorization Visit Demonstration and Evaluation. The primary goal was to determine how best to manage and allocate these resources and to determine how to ensure that contractors provide sufficient data to enable field offices to make sound, sustainable determinations of program eligibility.

From October 1, 1993 to September 30, 1996, the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture sponsored demonstration projects in Georgia, Hawaii, Missouri, South Dakota, and Texas to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of operating the Food Stamp Employment and Training (E&T) program under the same legislative and regulatory terms as the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) recipients. Common objectives of the demonstrations were to increase compliance with E&T participation requirements among mandatory work registrants, target services to individuals most at risk of long-term dependency and those most likely to benefit from E&T services, improve participant outcomes, and improve the cost efficiency of welfare to work services.